Little League Books

I really enjoyed "The Last Amateurs." I've been a sports fan since grade school and as I write this, I'm closer to 50 than I'd care to be, so it's been a while. The past several years, I've tended to seek books about sports at the more grass-roots level because the games are (usually) purer than where all the money can be found. This is such a book.

If you're a fan of quick and snappy books about major league sports, stay away from this one. It is not a fast read, and there's not a protagonist in it who played in the NBA (okay, maybe Adonal Foyle or David Robinson, but they're abstract figures). That's the point. The Patriot League is all about colleges who expect their athletes to attend class and graduate, and these are good SCHOOLS just below Ivy League status.

I've seen a number of reviewers downgrade "The Last Amateurs" because he spends so much time on so many people. Well, YEAH...who is this book about? As tired as I've become of NBA players with college backgrounds who somehow made it through up to five years of classes without being able to string a coherent sentence together with any sense of intellect, it's kind of nice to get to know D1 players who can actually tell you who the president and is and would likely be able to find Iraq on a map if you asked. When I think of college athletes, these guys are closer to what I'd like to see than the imposters we too often get who would never set foot on a college campus if they couldn't play sports.

If you're a skeptic like me who doesn't buy into the notion that the Final Four is the pinnacle of college basketball, you'll enjoy this one. If you're still held in the thrall of major college sports programs and could care less about schools outside the big conferences like the ACC or Big 10, you SHOULD read it because you've been missing something.

I moved to Indiana roughly 18 months ago, and thus, re-read this book that I had first read a few years back. It was better and more telling the second time, obviously. It's nice to see kids who play for love of the game. You can see that here in the Hoosier State at any Butler University or high school game. I enjoy those tilts/atmospheres far more that IU, Purdue or the NBA's Pacers.

Feinstein has particularly good insight herein, thanks to his fastidious documentation and "all access" passes to the seasons of these teams. I actually follow the Patriot League more now because of this book.
John Feinstein writes a new book each year, and some are better than others. This was perhaps his best.

Remember Feinstein's book when you watch Carolina and Duke and think that's what college hoops is about.

I bought this book since I went to Lehigh and thought it would be extra interesting because of my background and because I played soccer and ice hockey at college. What a let-down!
I found the game by game annayasis drawn out and boring. About the only thing I can recommend to you from the book is the "amaterism" ( if there is such a word) of college sports at Lehigh and the great majority of other colleges in the US that we do not read or hear about on a daily basis.

I see you can purchase a used copy on Amazon for $0.99 - so what the hell - for a buck it's worth it I guess.

I agree with other reviewers who said that Feinstein would've been better off following one team instead of all of them. This could also chop the length down to a more reasonable amount. There's just too much going on to remember everything. I didn't even finish the book because it just took too long to get to the end and it didn't seem like the end would ever come. Feinstein could've told this story in about 250 pages instead of almost twice that. Not terrible, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it.

I generally enjoy Feinstein's writings and his commentary. 'The Last Amateurs' is Feinstein's best work. Following his standard procedure, Feinstein gets inside access to the teams of the Patriot League, an east coast league of mostly small private colleges. At the time the schools did not offer athletic scholarships. The players played because they wanted to keep playing competitive hoops and they were all required to be real students.

These games are played in small arenas far way from the glare of the big time spotlight. Nonetheless, these players and coaches passionately want to win. The big dream is to make the NCAA post-season tournament. The conference torunament championship that determines which team goes to the the Big Dance is one of the great sporting events on the modern scene.

With very few exceptions, none of these players have the slightest chance of making the NBA. For the coaches, things are a little different because coaching college hoops is their career and they are looking to move up.

Feinstein does a great job of taking the reader behind the scenes. In a way, these players and games are the ideal of amateur competition that has a deep emotional resonance for many fans - and therein lies a danger that too much exposure will ruin the very thing that makes the league attractive.

Highly recommended for college sports fans.

Pitching Like a Pro offers a comprehensive outline of what it takes to be a successful pitcher with longevity, whether at a professional level or starting out as a child (or anywhere in-between). Leo Mazzone was a pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves during their many successive years of making the playoffs as a result of one of the best pitching staffs in major league history; thus the information provided comes from a very qualified source.

The book covers Throwing Programs, which outlines the workout and training regimens enacted by the Braves pitching staff. It also covers how to grip the ball for all the basic pitches, a full chapter on mechanics, another on tactics, full descriptions on how to field at the pitching position, and finally physical conditioning.

Overall this book is as fine a foundation as one will find on becoming an effective pitcher and having a long lasting career without injury. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to improve their pitching performance and avoid injury.

Pitch a lot is the message of this book. OK, Leo has made his point, but if you accept that there's not much else this book has to offer. I was hoping for a bit more insight and didn't get it here.

Don't let the refreshing lack of complexity fool you. This book provides sound, common sense advice in easy to understand language. Many books on pitching advocate a "cloning approach" to a pitcher's delivery. Other books on pitching drills are confusing and overly technical. As Leo puts it, "Why turn throwing a baseball into a science project?" I got away from attempting to perfect my son's wind-up and delivery after reading this book. As long as the delivery is sound, I really don't think it matters exactly where you break your hands, how far away from the body the hands are when they break, exactly where the glove hand is when this is happening, etc, etc. If you find that other books are confusing you, how confused do you think your youngster is? Give Leo's approach a try.

Reasons to buy this book include: a) its emphasis on THROWING b) the simple presentation of proper technique c) throwing schedules and pitcher checkpoints d) the emphasis on supervision of the pitchers while they throw

This book is not so much about techniques as it is about a developing a philosophy concerning the training and conditioning of pitchers. As Mazzone points out, all the technique in the world is of no use if the pitcher can't go to the post when he is scheduled to. This book is not all inclusive concerning pitching, but how many books are? There is valuable information in this book, and coaches everywhere who are interested in getting the most from the arms on their staff should take the time to read it.

I bought this book with a leap faith, believing that since it had been authored by one of the most capable, recognizable pitching coaches for the most pre-emininent pitching staffs in all of baseball, it couldn't help but be great. t's full of "Glavine does this, "What Maddux as he..." and "Smoltz is great when he...". The book is of little use for coaches of little league teams who wish to impart valuable information to their players or correct pitching flaws. Maybe coaching the Braves pitchers is the easiest job in baseball because you don't have to tell those players anything at all. Personally, as a coach, I've read quite a few books on the subject and view a number of videos. For step by step, clear instruction, I've found, essentially without exception the best to be ones produced by coaches of little league, high school or college instructors. This book is not for you if you're looking to be helpful to kids with pitching problems and questions. By buying on a leap of faith, I violated one of literature's oldest axioms; you can't tell a book by looking at the cover.

I definitely enjoyed Alexandra Robbins' other books, however "Secrets of the Tomb" is not a fun read. Robbins is long winded and lacks the narrative that is so entertaining in "Pledged" and "The Overachievers." The book takes a historical perspective that is too detailed and not very direct, creating a lot of build-up for describing a boring society and ritual. Since Robbins was herself a member of a secret society the book is written with an undercurrent of reverance that seems to bar the author from revealing too much.

I thought the book was a little slow in the beginning, as it deeply covers the rise of the secret societies within Yale's deep past. However, the author transitioned very smoothly from subject to subject and captured my interest with every page. The author dives deep into the basis of the Skull and Bones society, including the historical and tremendously ironic history of the Bush family. Very interesting read, with deeply historical and accurate documentation of the society's beginnings, an inside look into the initaition rituals, debunking of myths, and exasperating covering of historical (and ultimately important) American families.

The book has an intriguing cover and title. The introduction was captivating. Sadly, it's all downhill from there -- it reads like the minutes of a long and unproductive meeting.

Apparently, the author has succeeded in recruiting her friends to leave contrived reviews. Of the 28 which rated this book at 5-stars, 15 were anonymous and 9 had this book as their only reviewed work. That leaves 4 people who unquestionably enjoyed it -- the editor, her parents, and boyfriend. The others are suspect.

Secrets of the Tomb is a must read book for all those who research secret societies or fraternal organizations here in America. Robbins takes a historical yet informative look at the founding of this organization. She examines the fabric of what makes this organization a strong respected organization on the campus and a bond that carries well beyond undergraduate years. An organization that set out to be self supporting and has remained so to date. Skull and Bones has changed a little with the time admitting women into the society. It still is at the center of American issues such as (education, politics, and publicity).

This book is a wonderful read! If you are not from the Northeast and don't know much on the Ivy Leagues and their past, it's a great book to get an understanding on the subject. Somewhat Cloak & Daggar, but very intersting indeed!

If you want to experience the bond between adult and child in all of its emotional breadth, put this book down and go talk to a kid.

God help those writers who Dunow is giving advice to. This is so sappy and self-serving you need a barf bag at your side while reading it. The writing is weak, the sentimentality suffocating, and the writer's self interest is way over the top. I am surprised that a publisher sunk their money in this; and I am angry at myself for blowing my own on one copy.

Like Dunow I decided to coach Little League to relate better to one of my son's and to make sure he got a fair shake at developing as a baseball player. Unlike Dunow I didn't get the job the first time I applied.
I found the Little League situations fascinating and related to the various players coaches, their attitudes and the situations. But it surprised me that Dunow's team improved so much without special coaching or instilling much competitiveness. I would be kind to the kids and almost never yell at them unless they weren't paying attention to the game while they were in the field. Dunow took a very gentle, kind and noncompetitive approach which worked surprisingly well. Even the problem kid Dylan came around in the end.

I was very interested in the Little League story and the fact that his son Max was a baseball trivia nut, knowing everything about the Yankees and his idol Derek Jeter. I was a lot that way as a child too. But Dunow alternates chapters, with one covering how he and his seven year old son progress during the Little League season followed by a chapter covering his own childhood and his relationship to his father.

I found the chapters about Little League more interesting. The switching back and forth breaks up the continuity and the two stories do not connect together very well. In the end he does do a good job of tieing his relationship with his son to his relationship to his father but the connection does not justify the style which I found disconcerting.

Both stories by themselves could make for interesting books but together it doesn't work. I found myself wanting to get through the chapters about his father to get back to the chapters about his son and the Little League. Hence I only gave it 3 stars.

Like Dunow I decided to coach Little League to relate better to one of my son's and to make sure he got a fair shake at developing as a baseball player. Unlike Dunow I didn't get the job the first time I applied.

I found the Little League situations fascinating and related to the various players coaches, their attitudes and the situations. But it surprised me that Dunow's team improved so much without special coaching or instilling much competitiveness. I would be kind to the kids and almost never yell at them unless they weren't paying attention to the game while they were in the field. Dunow took a very gentle, kind and noncompetitive approach which worked surprisingly well. Even the problem kid Dylan came around in the end.

I was very interested in the Little League story and the fact that his son Max was a baseball trivia nut, knowing everything about the Yankees and his idol Derek Jeter. I was a lot that way as a child too. But Dunow alternates chapters, with one covering how he and his seven year old son progress during the Little League season followed by a chapter covering his own childhood and his relationship to his father.

I found the chapters about Little League more interesting. The switching back and forth breaks up the continuity and the two stories do not connect together very well. In the end he does do a good job of tieing his relationship with his son to his relationship to his father but the connection does not justify the style which I found disconcerting.

Both stories by themselves could make for interesting books but together it doesn't work. I found myself wanting to get through the chapters about his father to get back to the chapters about his son and the Little League. Hence I only gave it 3 stars.

Although Mr. Dunow describes some memorable times with his son through the joy of coaching his son's Little League team, his choice of language does not fit what I would expect from a father or a coach. His use of four letter expletives certainly do not fit this type of book. I would think someone of his literary background could certainly express himself far better than street talk.

I've used this book to the letter the past 5 years in my league and have never finished below 2'nd place. The salary guidelines listed are excellent, and the book is well organized. It is easy to find a player immediatly during the draft, and view his statistics. The synopsis on each player is helpful, and funny. The minor league reviews are good for names, but aren't always timely. The book also fails to capture the correct team of late free agent signees, but assesses the players based on statistics. Waggoner does not project stats as a means of his rankings, rather he ranks players based on achievement. Other books try to rank the value of players based on the author's projected stats for the upcoming year. Waggoner's ratings place high value on closers. If you use his salary guidelines on draft day, and don't overpay, you are guaranteed a very competitve team.

I have bought this book for years and every year it comes in handy. A must for any commissioner who is starting their league. Rules are from the founding fathers (of Rotisseire) and probably the best available. The author adds wit to the evaluations which make it easy to read. I couldn't recommend a better book on Roto. Michael Sinco, Commisioner, Willow Creek Rotisserie League

If your a first or second year player, or you've recently started your own league, this book is a perfect rules reference guide. It's easy to read, and provides rules for drafting, and conducting business throughout the season. Glen Waggoner also gives his predictions (player value) for the upcoming season. These are fair, at best. Prior year stats are given, but there's little information given about the intangibles.

Where to begin to critique this effort of the Diamond Library (John Benson's boutique) to separate you from your money.

There is a tremendous difference between publishing statistics soon after the end of the season, as STATS does with some of their books, and publishing analysis soon after the end of the season. Because this book was published in November, the player comments apparently were written before the season ended. For instance Tyler Houston's blurb mentions his Wrigley Field advantage, even though he was traded to Cleveland late in the season. None of the early off season transactions are addressed. The player comments also suffer from terminal cuteness, as the authors try to emulate the light tone of earlier editions by Waggoner et al. The current editors are just not as consistently clever, although they occasionally get off a good one-liner or pun.

Nor are they as attentive. There are numerous typos in the book. These range from simply annoying misspellings, to transposing entire stat lines between players (Dave Veres for Billy Wagner, Chuck Knoblach for Jeff Kent to name two). This really limits the book's utility as a reference.

If you buy the book intent on using its prices for your draft you will certainly lose. Most are unrealistic, perhaps partly due to the early publishing date.

The section on minor league prospects is the most informative section of the book, and is probably a part that many readers will skim over.

Essentially all of the information in this book is also in earlier editions of the same book (the rules) or appears with minimal modification in other books written or co-written by John Benson. If you have never before played rotisserie baseball, you should buy the book once, for the rules. If you are an experienced player you should look elsewhere for helpful analysis.

Okrent and Waggoner can take credit for basically inventing Rotisserie baseball; however, their analysis of the game hasn't progressed at all since the early 80s. If you've just started a league, you could do worse than to use their rules and game structure; it's been tested by time and it works.

However, their player analysis is guaranteed to be months out of date, and their suggested prices do not -- repeat, do not -- work in any league that pays attention. It's fun to read, and a good governance guide, but look elsewhere for strategy, tactics, and pricing.

Easy to read and understand. I train 16 to 60 year olds to umpire and they all love this book. I could not find the factual errors referred to by another reviewer. I highly recommend this to your recalcitrant "non readers" who think they know everything about baseball!

Purchased by our Little League as an addition to its nascent umpiring library, this book was a major disappointment. Not only is this book actually aimed at a much younger audience -- Little League players vice umpires or managers -- it contains factual inaccuracies in contravention to baseball rules or their accepted interpretations. While generally acceptable for a Little League player, this does not belong in a League library, nor should it be referred to for rules interpretations. Rather, it is a rather light and sometimes misguided treatment by someone who appears to be less than intimately familiar with Little League or official baseball rules -- rather odd considering Dr. Hale's association with Little League baseball.

Upon initially opening this book, the first diagram I saw incorrectly depicted the size of home plate. The diagram includes the beveled trim surrounding the plate as part of the plate -- which it is not. While this would appear trivial, it is often the difference between a ball and strike, safe and out. Quickly flipping to a later chapter, I noted another diagram stating that a ball trapped between a player's arm and his body is a catch, and providing reference to section 2 of the rules ('Definition of Terms'). Compare the described situation with Official Baseball Rules, which read: 'A CATCH is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it...' Clearly, a ball trapped between arm and body is not in the hand or glove and does not constitute a catch.

For a Little Leaguer who doesn't know any rules, this book will provide a general grounding, but could also lead to mistakes on the player's part as a result of the type of inaccuracies described above. In no case should it be used for umpires, coaches, or managers.

The cover of this book states that it contains up to date information. In 1989 this may have been true. Of what possible good can a ten year old "official rule book" be? The book contains some good, if somewhat over simplified, information for beginners, but contains many vague and ambiguous references and some contradictions. Don't keep this one in the dugout as your only reference to official rules.

If you have read my review of Bill Gutman's "Rice, Luzinski, Foster, Hisle," you know that on my tenth birthday my mother gave me that particular book. The love of baseball continued on through the same Christmas. I got THREE baseball games for Christmas that year - Electric Baseball, the Pete Rose pinball baseball game, and Double-Play baseball, a dice game made by Hasbro.

I also got two more baseball books - "Where Have They Gone?," a two-star job because I had hardly heard of any of the players except Jimmy Piersall (who I only knew because he was the White Sox color man when we lived in Illinois) and Frank Malzone (who I only knew from a Lite beer commercial where they traded baseball cards - and his name was mentioned at the end).

This book featured profiles and career information on ten different catchers who at the time of writing (1970 - yeah, my mom got me a book that was nearly as old as me!!) were among the ten best of all-time. The catchers were: Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Bill Freehan, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Lombardi, Elston Howard, Tim McCarver, and Joe Torre.

The last three and probably Freehan had absolutely no business being in a book about great catchers. Torre wasn't even a great manager until he got his fourth job and inherited the 'on the verge of greatness' Yankees of the late 1990s. I'm guessing Freehan was included because he won five straight Gold Gloves in the years preceding the book (btw - Johnny Bench was only in his third year and won his first MVP the year the book was published - that's why he was not in there, a point noted by Zanger in the book's closing pages).

But Elston Howard? Here is a guy who won the MVP ONCE on a team that got swept in the World Series by the Dodgers. And since Whitey Ford of the same team finished third in the MVP voting that year, you gotta figure that Ellie was hardly the sole reason for the Yankees going to what was then their THIRTEENTH World Series (six that preceded Howard's arrival in the big leagues) in FIFTEEN years. Okay, so he was a nine-time All-Star, but that didn't mean much because from 1959-1964, there were TWO All-Star games each year and you couldn't play in both of them. And after 1957, the fans were barred from voting for about fifteen years, so it's not like he was selected by the fans. He played in New York and that's the only reason Howard is in this book.

McCarver had the good fortune to be the catcher of two REALLY great Hall of Fame pitchers, Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. But he was even less deserving than Howard - two All-Star teams and only led the league in one category, triples, in 1966 - and never came close to being the league MVP.

And Torre? He had a good OPS from 1964-1966, but he had a line-up that included Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron as well as the above .300 hitting Rico Carty. In 1971, Torre had a career year and won the MVP. But this is the guy who led or finished second in GROUNDING INTO DOUBLE PLAYS six times in eight seasons!!! Nah, Joe Torre is not one of the 'great catchers.'

Thus, we take the latter three out and replace them with Roger Bresnahan, Ray Schalk, and if Zanger was insistent on having a Brave, Del Crandall would have been a better choice than Torre. But let's look at the rest.

The first seven are inarguably among the greatest catchers of all-time. Berra won all those championships with the Yankees; he even managed them to the Series in 1964. Campanella is sadly best remembered for the end of his career in a car accident. Yet he won the MVP three times in five seasons, and Brooklyn made the Series two of those times, winning its only title in 1955.

I must confess that prior to this book, I had never heard of Mickey Cochrane. Yet he, too, was a great catcher. And it hit me that most of these catchers are better remembered for bad things than good. Campy for his wreck, Cochrane for his inability to shut down Pepper Martin in 1931 and his beaning in 1934, and Lombardi for his 'snooze' at home plate in the 1939 World Series - never mind that in the latter case, the Yankees were going to win the series anyway.

Another thing that seemed to put these catchers in the book was the fact that they won the World Series. Berra won ten, Campy one, Cochrane three, Dickey seven, Freehan one, Lombardi one, Howard four, and McCarver two. The two exceptions were Hartnett (who had the misfortune of playing for the Cubs; Halley's Comet has been here twice since the Cubs last won the World Series) and Torre. Thus, greatness seems defined by whether your TEAM won and not so much based on your ability.

This is a good book written on the fifth grade level. The historical information is accurate and even hits hard. I winced as the managers of the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s kept dying until the Tigers won the Series. As of the day of this review, SIX of the ten catchers are deceased (at the time I read it, only three were dead - all old school).

If your son is into baseball, pick up this tome and enjoy it.

I purchased this book to pick-up a few more pointers. The book was good but all the graphics/forms are drawn. Would be better with actual photographs.

I was excited to read this book when I saw it at my local library. I had just finished managing my kids' little league t-ball team (5 to 7 year olds) and was ready to read about kids playing at a higher level. I came out of the experience bewildered and disappointed.

Little League, Big Dreams is a jaundiced, uneven account of the little league world series and all of organized youth baseball. Charles Euchner did an excellent job researching the book. However, the writing is disjointed, and the structure of the book is almost impossible to follow. It seems like the book may have started as a series of articles because much information is repeated throughout the book. (How many times does the reader need to be told that Dante Bichette quit major league baseball upon hearing that his son hit his first little league homerun?)

While I agree with many of the points the writer attempted to make in this book, the unevenness throughout does little to bring those points home. In addition, His "Let the kids play" conclusion was too simplistic and not at all developed. Did I mention that Dante Bichette quit major league baseball upon hearing that his son hit his first little league homerun?

I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, but I am an avid reader and have been coaching Little League for a number of years. Normally, I think most non-fiction texts can and should be shrunk down by 90% and placed in a magazine so their narrative doesn't run dry. This book is a solid case in point. I got bored after four chapters and had to put the book down. It's not that the writing was bad, it's that the book went into too much detail about people I didn't care about.

If only this were an article in Sports Illustrated!

This is an excellent book on the inner happenings of Little League Baseball. I really enjoyed the candid assesments of how parents and managers go overboard. The book though is not a bashing of the little league faults - it gives inside looks at what happens at williamsport and the teams...I really enjoyed the stories about the ugly rivalry between California and Florida and how Dante Bichette Sr. got out of control - also the stories about Curacao and Japan and how serious they take the game - the stories about the pitcher's not resting their arms and getting major injuries is a wake up...
Finally, the story centers on Hawaii and how they built their team swithcing from Pony to Little League - and how they practiced so hard - 6 days a week! Great stories about Little league baseball and how Travel teams are so much better and talented (cooperstown baseball)...
if you enjoy youth baseball - you'll love this book

This guy knows his baseball coaches. He's apparently seen every bad one in the book. And if you're a player stuck with one of these lousy coaches (they're all lousy, by the way, none of them are interested in helping kids, they are all in it for themselves), his advice is glib, snide, and misguided.

Imagine a guy who thinks he's Dennis Miller, stretching every joke to the last possible descriptive metaphor. Imagine a guy who seems obsessed with the idea that all coaches only volunteer for Little League so they can turn their own sons into the MVP of the team. Imagine a guy who thinks kids need to be armed with cynicism, not idealism, as they enter Little League.
Imagine a guy who finds "Field of Dreams" to be a waste of celluloid.
That's who you're dealing with here and it translates into a really boorish, frustrating book that serves no real purpose except letting a frustrated coach/writer vent his spleen. Maybe he needs a blog. Or a hobby.

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. My 10-year-old son received it as a gift, and I now wonder about the intent of the giver. It's snarky and sarcastic without being witty or clever, and is pretty much limited to exploring some broad negative stereotypes about types of players, coaches and parents. The cover says the book is "For parents, coaches and players," but it wouldn't appeal to most kids of Little League age. For an adult, it takes about 10 minutes to read, so isn't worth buying. I got the feeling that the authors had bad experiences as Little League players and/or parents, but rather than write about whatever those issues were and possible solutions (which could still have been done in a light and humorous manner), they wrote a book that had hardly anything positive to say about anyone involved in the game. Oh, except for "the perfect coach," who, surprisingly enough, resembles one of the authors.

And a fun read for my 12 yr old son, too! Edgerton(s), (one and two), provide some much needed levity to the sometimes all too serious sport of Little League baseball.

Although the book is geared toward my sons demographic, I found myself laughing out loud many times as I read the book...then turning to my spouse and saying "Wait, here's another..."
We were both able to put a "face" to the coaching styles, of course, making us laugh even harder.

The writers hit on those things every Mother thinks, but doesn't say and those things that the boys say amongst themselves.